


a singe runs through lace and feather

by tortoiseshells



Category: Mercy Street (TV)
Genre: But Alas It Is Not, Episode 2x02, Gen, If This Were Subtle It Might Be Foreshadowing, Missing Scene, Season 2, Speculation About McBurney's and Hopkins' Backstories, Vaguely Drawn Character Parallels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-24
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2020-01-25 17:52:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18579565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tortoiseshells/pseuds/tortoiseshells
Summary: Major Clayton McBurney III has an interview with Mansion House's chaplain. Or, this isnotthe start of a beautiful friendship.





	a singe runs through lace and feather

“Ah,” said Major McBurney, looking as though he’d rather be alphabetizing his paperwork, “Chaplain Hopkins. Come in.”

Henry did, swinging the door shut behind him. If he had ever been in this room before, he couldn’t recall – instead of a formal introduction, Summers had caught him on his rounds a week after his arrival, and asked, in order, after his journey, whether he played euchre, and what denomination he adhered to, before genially ignoring his existence. It had been a telling interview, if one could call it that – a conversation that clearly shaded in the things to come. But Summers had gone on to his desk, and there would be a new era at Mansion House.

He’d little idea what to expect from Major McBurney, save that he’d heard the younger Sisters giggling to Miss Green about the apparently-handsome newcomer. He’d looked down, then, jealousy pricking at his conscience like so many thorns. Doctor Foster had been in a foul mood after meeting McBurney, but Foster had been more irritable of late than Henry could recall – it signified nothing about the new Major, that Foster had berated Kendrick over insufficiently-sharp scalpels shortly thereafter. Not necessarily, at least. 

“You wished to see me?”

“I did.” The Major set his writing aside quickly and precisely. “My predecessor writes that you are a graduate of Williams College?”

“Yes.”

“And the Union Seminary thereafter?”

“I am.”

“How appropriate.” McBurney said, chuckling briefly at his own joke, before coughing and moving swiftly along, “And you are Presbyterian, then?”

“Congregationalist.”

“And you have been here how long?”

“June of last year.”

The major tilted his head, as though he were a bird. “So soon after the start of – hostilities.” 

Henry said nothing in response, but he knew that look, the kind of look that hid estimations and calculations. Judgment. He and the Major must have been about of an age. One of them wore the scars of battle – or so he assumed, given the no-longer-white bandage across the Major’s cheek – and the other did not.

“I was between parishes,” Henry replied, “There was nothing to prevent me.”

“Your zeal is commendable, I’m sure.” McBurney had a way of speaking that made him seem somewhere between disinterested and disdainful. “Major Summers also complimented you on your dedication to your calling.”

“I am grateful for the praise.”

“ ‘Although grim, Henry Hopkins is an able minister and, in a pinch, a better orderly than most.’ “ McBurney quoted, drawing an open letter from his desk, “My predecessor meant that you do hospital work as well as preaching?”

“There’s always more that needs to be done than there are hands to do it.”

The Major _hmm_ -ed. _Dismissive or disparaging_? “I will, of course, be speaking to Doctor Foster and Nurse Phinney about the arrangement of Mansion House’s staff. I do not expect you to make up for the deficiencies of our medical staff.”

“That is not what I –“ Henry stopped, before the frustration could bleed through, “Respectfully, that is not what I meant. Ministering to the sick, the wounded – that is God’s work. It is not beneath me.”

“It is the dignity of the Union I am concerned with, and the disgrace that such disorderly arrangements will bring upon us. I have been dispatched as an agent of order, you understand. I will not begin my tenure here by asking the son of Mark Hopkins to empty bedpans.”

“What?”

“The President of Williams College, Mark Hopkins. _Lectures on Moral Science_. You are his son?”

“Major,” Henry said haltingly, feeling uncomfortably exposed, “I don’t understand what or how -"

“Your commission was signed by President Lincoln – ‘especially,’ writes Major Summers!” He tapped the page for emphasis. “You are a Congregationalist, educated at Williams, with the familiar surname. I am from Connecticut, Chaplain, not Kentucky, or the Colorado Territory – or the Congo, for that matter. I have some understanding of the prominent families of New England.”

“My surname does not affect the work I’ve undertaken, and I will not –“

“Be troubled with menial work best left to the orderlies and laborers,” interrupted McBurney again, putting the letter away. The drawer closed with a soft _clink_. “That will be all, Chaplain Hopkins. Good day.”

He waited a moment, and then two, but McBurney had returned to his papers. Feeling less sincere than usual, Henry said his quiet “God be with you,” and left.

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Herman Melville's "A Utilitarian View of the _Monitor_ 's Fight". And you thought we were done with that poem!
> 
> This is absolutely @harrygoodsirs/Cicadaemon's fault, talking to me about McBurney's upbringing and making me think about how he would relate to the other cast members. I owe you Effie fluff, for sure! In the meantime ... he was writing to Effie before Henry walked in?
> 
> I continue to treat the real Henry Hopkins' life as guidelines rather than rules. Oops. So far as a I can tell, the real ("real"?") Henry Hopkins did graduate from Williams (where he was apparently in a fraternity, _scandal_ ) before going to Union Seminary in New York City. I futzed the dates to be more in line with Henry's age on the show.
> 
> Is McBurney being hard on Hopkins because he suspects nepotism? Some worry over his own worthiness over his position? Good questions!


End file.
